Major international carriers to offer Internet access in '03

NEW YORK (AP)  For many busy people, a long airplane flight is one of the last places in life with guaranteed down time, away from the tentacles of e-mail and requests from the office.

That's about to change.

In 2003, several international carriers will begin offering high-speed Internet access via satellite. For now, it's basically a trial run so the airlines can figure out how much people are willing to pay to get online with their own laptops at 35,000 feet.

This toe-dipping comes as several companies stand ready to supercharge airplanes with a range of communications upgrades, such as giving passengers the means to send and receive e-mail and instant messages from their seats.

"It becomes a really strong productivity tool that gives people their time back," said Terrance Scott, a spokesman for Connexion by Boeing, which is offering the satellite broadband service. "It keeps you in touch with things at a time when you haven't been able to do that."

Connexion's service is expected to debut Jan. 15 on Lufthansa flights from Frankfurt, Germany, to Washington-Dulles. Scandanavian Airlines System (SAS), British Airways and Japan Airlines will try it next.

Lufthansa will offer the service for free for three months; British Airways plans to charge about $30 per flight.

That price sounds about right to Rob Vollmer, 32, a principal in Crosby-Vollmer International Commun ications, a Washington-based public-relations firm.

Vollmer, who has flown 140,000 miles this year, does so much work by e-mail that he sometimes feels compelled to surreptitiously check messages during flights with a wireless Palm device, though it's prohibited.

"If I could do so legally for a fee, I'd jump at the opportunity," Vollmer said. "Going six to eight hours without the ability to send or receive e-mail is a form of torture," he said, offering proof: He once took an unnecessary flight from London to India because he missed an e-mail that warned him a meeting had been postponed.

Connexion's service requires installing two antennas on the plane, one to transmit data to satellites and one to receive data.